


little tigers and friendly demons

by Introverted_Survivalist



Category: Titans (TV 2018)
Genre: Cute Kids, Dick And Kory Are Good Parents, Drabbles, F/M, Found Family, Gar And Rachel Are Younger, Gen, Nobody Tries To Kill Them, Powers Exist, The Kids Are Seven, They’re Still Adopted, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Weird Stuff Happen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2020-02-06
Packaged: 2021-02-25 05:01:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22030411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Introverted_Survivalist/pseuds/Introverted_Survivalist
Summary: A bunch of fluffy drabbles and cuteness from Dick’s new family.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Garfield Logan, Dick Grayson & Koriand’r & Garfield Logan & Raven, Dick Grayson & Rachel Roth, Dick Grayson/koriand’r, Koriand’r & Garfield Logan, Koriand’r & Rachel Roth
Comments: 47
Kudos: 73





	1. Alcohol and Cider

**Author's Note:**

> Just posted a new series because I’m super bored! Here are a bunch of drabbles that probably nobody wants to see.
> 
> This one is New-Years-Day-themed, and it’s dedicated to my good friend Jun, who gave me this plot for the first chapter.
> 
> Requests are available, but they have to have all the four characters in your plot!
> 
> Enjoy, y’all! Lexi out.

Just half an hour later, Dick and Kory would see the ball drop in Times Square through the TV, and it would be another year gone, a new year to come around.

“I can’t believe it’s already the end of December.” Kory mused with a quiet laugh, pouring herself some vodka into a small glass as she stood at the kitchen island. She was in her knee-high boots, a coat, and a tight black dress underneath. “Time sure flies fast. You better be ready for our New Years kiss.”

“That’s strong.” Dick commented, eyes flickering towards the bottle in Kory’s hands, her rings clinking against glass. “You gonna be okay with that? I don’t want you drunk during the countdown with the kids. It’s bad influence.”

“Bad influence, huh? Tell that to my ass. I don’t get drunk easily, anyway.” Kory exhaled, putting the glass to her lips. The burning liquid traveled down her throat. She set the alcohol back onto the table and turned towards Dick, sent him a grin. “Those kids need to learn how to drink someday, Dick.”

“Don’t you think it’s a little too early? They’re only seven.”

“It’s never too late to learn your liquor.”

Dick heard himself snicker, and he turned back to the TV screen. “Yeah, sure. What a perfect way to celebrate New Years Day. Teaching children how to drink.”

“Dick, Dick!”

Seven-year-old Rachel bounced into the room, her favorite blue blanket tied around her neck like a cape, dressed in her purple PJs. Behind trotted in a small green adolescent tiger, paws kicking gently against the floor, dragging a thick green blanket in his mouth across the ground.

“Gar, how many times have I told you about turning into a tiger without telling me?” Kory left the glass of vodka on the island, heading over to the green cat, leaning down to give him a stroke on the head. “You know you shed.”

“He sheds?” Dick turned around as he held Rachel in his arms, carefully untying the blanket just in case it choked her. “Gar’s human, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, but he’s a tiger too.” Rachel called out.

Meanwhile, Gar had shifted back into normal, covering himself with the blanket he had brought along—it was rather big, covering his entire body so that he looked like he was stuck inside a big green marshmallow. “I don’t shed—” He whined from underneath the thick mass, only his nose and wild green hair being the only visible parts of him.

Kory shook a little as a quiet laugh escaped her lips, and her arms picked up the blanket with the boy tucked in safely inside. “Let’s go get you into some pants—the countdown’s starting soon.” She then proceeded to carry him to his room.

Rachel bounced up and down excitedly on Dick’s lap, making Dick’s breath hitch every single time she landed back on him.

“I’m so excited!” She exclaimed happily, spinning around towards Dick, small hands grabbing onto his biceps. “We’re going to see the disco ball drop out of the sky!”

“Yeah, that’s right.” For a second, he considered telling the little girl that it wasn’t at all a disco ball, although it very much resembled one, and that it wasn’t really dropping from the heavens because that would apparently crush hundreds of people if it did—but he kept his mouth shut.

“I can’t wait, I can’t wait, _I can’t wait!_ ” Rachel cried out, hopping off Dick and grabbing the blanket off him, twirling it around like some sort of lasso.

Meanwhile, Kory had returned with Gar in her arms, the latter now wearing a pair of green and black pajamas, fuzzy neon green slippers on his little feet. He was set down on the couch beside Dick, and he happily settled there, grinning like a child awaiting their gift on Christmas day.

“I’m thirsty.” Rachel complained from in front of the TV, her hands busy twisting the blanket to make it into some sort of makeshift rope.

“All I have is some Sprite.” Kory called out as she marched over and opened the fridge, leaning down a little to get a close look at the contents inside. “You two okay with that?”

“Kory, no, we’re not giving them soda—it’s bad for their health.”

“Oh, don’t be such a downer, Dick. One time’s fine. And where's the fun of trying something new?" 

With a satisfied hum, Kory grabbed two plastic cups and filled them with the soda, placing them on the counter. The kids could have it to themselves whenever they were ready. She turned towards the three and then at the kids, who were busily looking back and forth between Kory and Dick. “You guys are gonna love these.”

“Are you finally giving us some of your drinks?” Rachel called out, eyes still focused on her blanket.

“Kory, no—“

“Dick, it’s not alcohol, it’s just a fizzy drink. It’s okay.” Kory assured him, giving him a quick smile. She then turned around, beginning to head towards the bedroom, which she and Dick shared.

“Alright, I’m going to get into my PJs—so y’all stay here put. I’ll be back soon.”

Dick slowly stood from the couch, the mattress shifting from behind free of the man’s weight. “Uh, me too. I mean, I’m still in my work clothes.” He nodded towards his shirt and tie, and for some reason, Gar giggled out loud.

When the two disappeared from the living room, Gar hopped off the couch and sprinted over to the kitchen counter. “Kory actually decided that it’s time for us to have soda.” He said out loud, inspecting the cups and glasses on the counter. “The only problem is, which one is it?”

“I dunno.” Rachel replied with a shrug as she jumped up and down to see the top of the counter, hands gripping the edges tightly. “That one looks pretty—“ She then pointed towards the half-drunken glass of vodka, and then pointed towards the two plastic cups set beside it. “Sprite’s supposed to look like that, right?”

“Yeah, but they both look the same. Kory always drinks vodka.” Gar muttered, shaking his head, happening to know the name of the bottle of liquid sitting not too far away thanks to Kory herself. “Dammit, I dunno.”

“Language!” Rachel scowled, exactly mimicking Kory’s look whenever they were admonished for their use of swear words. Gar grumbled in response, and grabbed the plastic cup off the counter.

“So it’s a lucky guess.” He shrugged, inspecting the bubbling liquid inside. “Can’t be worse than the alcohol Kory and Dick always have.”

“You don’t even know what any of these taste like.”

“Alcohol’s supposed to make you drunk, right?”

“That’s what happens to Dick all the time.” Rachel grabbed the other plastic cup. “Ready to have our first taste of Sprite?”

Gar flashed Rachel an ear-to-ear grin. “You know it.”

“Let’s do it in one shot.”

“Yessir.”

The two downed the whole thing in one gulp.

Of course, most people casually drank coke or cider, most of them are used to the fizzy feeling that snaked down their throats, the tingling on their tongues—however, for two little children who had never had soda being only fed cauliflower crust pizza by a health food addict for their entire life, this was overwhelming.

“Oh no.” Gar whimpered, squinting. “I don’t think this is Sprite.”

“It feels weird.” Rachel whined and put the plastic cup back onto the counter. “My tongue hurts—” She stuck out her tongue, biting down on it a little with her front teeth.

Gar’s eyes widened as he turned towards Rachel.

“Rachel?”

“Why?”

“I think we drank Kory’s vodka.”

Complete silence ensued before Rachel burst into tears.

“Kory’s gonna kill us—” She wailed, wiping her tears helplessly on her sleeves, her feet planted on the floor underneath her. “She _hates_ it when Dick takes her vodka.”

Meanwhile, Gar had began pacing around the room in circles, small hands fisting in his green hair and pulling. “ _Oh no no no no no_ , we drank alcohol, we drank alcohol, and now we’ll be drunk just like Dick—and we'll start throwing laundry out the window.” His eyes were wide with panic.

”I don’t feel so good.” Rachel cried out, hopping up and down in place as her hands gripped the kitchen counter ever so tightly. “Oh, I’m going to throw up.”

“I think I’m drunk—” Gar claimed loudly, the panic nowhere to be seen as he jumped onto the couch, bare feet on top of the cushions. “This is the weirdest I’ve ever felt!”

“What’s going on here?” Dick and Kory marched out from the hall and into the living room, where they found Rachel bawling her eyes out in the kitchen and Gar giggling on their sofa, hair a complete mess.

Dick turned to Kory with a look of disbelief. “Y-you, you fed them your vodka, didn’t you?”

“I did _not_!” Kory retorted in response, her eyes wide. “No matter how insane I might be, I don’t give little kids alcohol!”

“That’s funny, because just five minutes ago you were talking about how the kids need to learn to drink!”

“Well, yes, but it’s too early! They’re seven, for X’hal’s sake!”

“That’s what _I_ said!”

“If they _did_ drink vodka, we’d have to take them to the emergency room!”

“And that’s what I’m worried about!” Dick called out as he hurried over to the kitchen counter, grabbing the empty plastic cups. “I thought you gave them Sprite—not that it’s good for them, either.”

“I _did_ give them Sprite, I did not give them any alcohol, Dick!”

Dick looked into a green plastic cup, almost squinting at the bit of liquid sloshing around inside. He sniffed it, and smelled that scent of sugar and fizzy soda. “This isn’t vodka.” He frowned and put the cup in the sink.

“See? I’d never give them vodka.”

A hiccup from Gar brought their attention back to the kids. He was currently bouncing up and down the couch on his knees along with Rachel, who had stopped crying at some point and was throwing cushions onto the floor, laughing like crazy.

“Hey, no, _stop it_ —” Kory snapped, taking the cushions away from Rachel and put them on the counter. “Don’t throw—Gar, stop jumping on the couch, you're making dust fly.”

Rachel stuck her tongue out at her and hopped away, excitedly tugging Gar along with her, both of them running out of the room through the halls of the tower.

“What’s causing them to act up like this?” Dick wondered aloud, eyeing the bottle of vodka wearily. “They’ve gone crazy. It’s like they’re actually drunk.”

“Maybe they just _think_ they’re drunk. I mean, it's the only reasonable explanation." Kory suggested, picking up the cushions on the ground and lazily throwing them back onto the couch. “C’mon, we gotta go stop them before they actually drive themselves insane.”

…

“No, you’re supposed to hold it like this.” Gar grabbed the batons away from Rachel, who was sitting across from him on the floor of the training room, and held them in both hands. Gar then proceeded to get to his feet, puff his chest out a little, and throw them towards the sand bag that hung from a railing not too far away. They both landed with loud clanks, and Rachel flinched.

“So, I think it’s time we had a talk.” Gar plopped back down onto the floor, looking into Rachel’s eyes. “And it’s really serious. We’re going to talk like grown ups, okay?”

Rachel offered him a toothy smile. “Okay!”

“So I heard once from Larry that there are different types of being drunk.”

Rachel frowned at this immediately. “Types of being drunk? What does that mean?”

“I dunno about it too well, but there’s a whole bunch of varieties… Larry’s one of those guys who get very emotional when they drink too much. And Rita doesn’t drink too often, but when she does, she gets all happy for no reason.”

“So, you mean, both of us will somehow start feeling big emotions and be happy for no reason?” Rachel scrunched up her nose. “That’s creepy.”

“But there’s always a type of drunk when it comes to drinking, there’s nothing we can do to get away from it. It’s _inevitable_.”

“That’s a big word, Gar—Dick owes you a quarter.”

“I know.” Gar replied rather proudly, before returning to his serious look. “Anyway,” He started again. “… we need to find out what kind of drunk we are.”

“I think you’re like your uncle Larry; kind of emotional.” Rachel said thoughtfully, pulling her knees up to her chest.

Gar cocked his head, tugging at his own hair. “Emotional? What makes you think that?”

“Well, for one thing, when you’re sad, you get really quiet and all. And also, the way you’re talking right now makes you look very, very serious.” Rachel giggled.

“Then that makes you the happy drunk type.”

“How come?”

“You’re laughing right now.”

“Well, I guess that makes sense.” Rachel nodded, pretty much convinced that she was the happy-giddy-drunk type from that one simple reason. “It’s settled, then! I’m the happy drunk type, you’re the over-emotional drunk type!”

“I think I’m going to get some of those throwing sticks for myself.”

Just then, Dick entered the room, Kory right at his heels. “Hey, did you throw these?” Dick said sternly, picking up the electric batons from the floor. “These aren’t toys, they’re dangerous weaponry! You can’t touch these!”

“Oh, yes we can!” Rachel retorted, sticking her bottom lip out and pouting.

“And how are you going to do that?”

“Bam!”

Rachel smacked the baton right out of Dick’s left hand and tugging Gar, she left the room, giggling uncontrollably.

With a defeated sigh, Dick placed the other baton on a weapons rack nearby. “Those two are troublemakers even without thinking they’re drunk.” He muttered. “For all I know, they could trash this tower.”

“Then we better go stop them.” Kory said defiantly, walking across the training room in big strides.

…

Gar’s eyes widened.

“Did you actually steal those out of Dick’s stuff?”

“Yup!” Rachel replied happily as she could, making her voice as high-pitched as possible—she was still living up to the whole happy-drunk-thing. She ran her finger along the smooth, round surface of the tiny gadget. “Any idea what it is?”

“Looks like some sort of grenade.” Gar muttered, squinting to look at it.

“Then we should make it explode!” Rachel said excitedly, almost squealing in ecstasy. “This should be fun!”

“No, don’t do it—” Gar called out hastily, eyes the size of saucepans. “You’ll kill us!”

“Fine.” Rachel grumbled, and threw the small object behind her back—suddenly, there was a loud hiss, and smoke filled the room, covering their sights.

Gar fanned the air with his hand, coughing. “Rachel, that was a smoke bomb—” He wailed. “We’re gonna die here and nobody’s coming to find us, we’ll be stuck here forever and I just know it.”

“Don’t be such a scaredy cat, Gar.” Rachel called out, clearing her throat, nose high up in the air as she kicked the smoke bomb away. “Smoke bombs don’t kill people.”

“Are you sure?”

“To be honest, I don’t know.”

“Is there a fire? Gar, Rachel?” Dick’s voice echoed from the halls. “Why’s there smoke?”

“I don’t smell anything burning—” Kory could be heard along with him a second later. “But it’s perfectly capable of them burning something at this point.”

“Quick, they’re coming!” Rachel whisper-shouted, tugging on a moping Gar. “Shh, let’s hurry!”

And eventually, the two were out of the room, leaving Dick and Kory to find the smoke bomb still going off.

…

“Who wants some hot chocolate?” Rachel called out in a sing-song voice, grabbing a big container of powder and a spoon. “Gar, want some hot coco?”

“Yes, please!” Gar crawled onto the chair positioned at the dinner table, hands flat against the surface.

“Me too.” Rachel said with a wide grin and dumped the powder into two cups of warm milk—the ones Kory had heated up earlier in the microwave for their bedtime. She mixed the contents of the cup with her spoon, standing up tall as she did, trying to act like a world class chef. She then handed one glass to Gar, keeping the other to herself.

“There you go.” She said with a wide smile, somewhat feeling proud of herself. Gar accepted the cup with haste and put it to his lips, taking a big gulp—

“Blegh!” Gar spat the brownish liquid out, wiping his mouth like crazy. “That isn’t coco! It’s spicy!”

Rachel was a giggling mess upon seeing Gar spitting out the drink, smacking the spoon on the table as she grabbed the powder container with both hands to support herself.

“Rachel, you used chili powder! That’s what Dick puts in our tacos!”

“Oops.” Rachel shrugged and pushed the cup away. “At least I didn’t drink any of that.”

She then proceeded to giggle and run out into the hall, arms flailing in every direction, leaving Gar in the kitchen sputtering and trying to get rid of the taste in his mouth.

“Gar? Rachel?” Dick entered the room, face red. He broke into a small smile when he found Gar sitting at the table, frowning with his tongue sticking out. “Thank god, I’ve been looking everywhere for you. This story’s plenty big, you know.” He sat down beside him, and Gar immediately leaned into his arms like he was a beanbag that had magically appeared beside him.

Dick couldn’t help but chuckle as he pulled Gar to his chest, the younger boy seeming to decide that he liked the warmth and snuggled in closer.

“You know it wasn’t vodka you drank, right?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, daddy.”

Dick’s hand, which had been running through Gar’s soft green hair immediately froze on the spot upon hearing the name Gar had referred to him as.

Realizing that Dick had stopped stroking his hair, Gar’s quiet purring came to a pause and he glanced up at him. “Why did you stop?”

“You…” He swallowed a lump in his throat. Dick couldn’t ignore the brief moment of happiness and warmth that had spread through his heart the second he heard that single word come out of Gar’s mouth. But at the same time, it felt weird knowing that he did so—he wasn’t a dad... was he? “… you called me daddy.”

Gar frowned, looking utterly confused. “Am I not allowed to call you that?”

“No, no, you can. Of course you can. It’s just…” He began running his fingers through the boy’s hair again, and Gar pushed his head against his palm for more. “… you’ve never called me that before.”

“I just felt like calling you that.” Gar replied with a shrug. “You’re like my daddy. And I love you for that.”

“Gar…” Dick was speechless. No more words could leave his mouth.

“When I lost my mommy and daddy, I felt like I lost everything.” Gar said softly, feet weakly kicking the seat. “But you and Kory were suddenly there, and... I found everything I lost. And I’m finally happy.” He grinned a little. “You’re just like my daddy.”

Dick smiled.

“It’s the vodka saying this, and I’m an over-emotionally drunk man, so don’t judge me.”

He couldn’t help but laugh. “I won’t.”

And before he knew it, Gar was suddenly gone, running down the hall after Rachel. The absence of the former warmth from the child in his arms somewhat left Dick with a emptiness he couldn’t comprehend.

…

Kory found the two kids out cold under their bed, origami birds scattered all over the floor.

She quickly snapped a photo as Dick entered the room behind her. “Looks like they wore themselves out.” Kory said with a laugh.

“They pretty much did the job for us—we were on a wild goose chase for almost half an hour.” Dick chuckled, looking down at Gar curled into a ball beside Rachel, whose body was sprawled over Gar’s, head resting on his side. “Those little troublemakers.”

Kory frowned. “Wait, half an hour?” She snapped her head towards the small _Back To the Future_ -themed clock (which was bought at Gar’s insistence, of course), the hands pointing directly at three minutes past midnight.

“Oh, Dick—we missed the countdown. And our kiss.” She sighed, eyes flickering towards the kids dozing soundly on the carpet. “Might as well get them to bed.”

At this, despite feeling a tad bit disappointed, he kneeled and picked Gar up, cradling his small body in his arms—he warmth he had felt earlier soon returned as the boy nuzzled his nose into his shirt, muttering something incoherent.

Kory did the same with Rachel, lifting her up and lifting the covers, tucking her into the bed. Dick gently placed Gar onto the mattress, giving his hair a gentle ruffle before tucking the covers to both their chins. Kory leaned in and planted kisses on both their foreheads. She clicked a small button on their play table, the small moon-shaped nightlight they both insisted on keeping on when they slept glowing a soft yellow.

“C’mon, they had a long day.” Kory flashed him a smile as she sashayed back towards the door, flicking the light off. 

Dick gave the two one last look before following Kory, closing the door behind him.

The word ‘daddy’ still lingered in his mind, and he almost felt proud of himself.

Kory fell back onto the sofa, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. “Crazy hour.” She exhaled as Dick sat down beside her—they could see people celebrating in Times Square. “And we missed our kiss.”

“It’s not too late for the kiss, you know.” Dick suggested, shrugging absentmindedly. “I mean, it’s still five minutes past the start of this year, so we have all the time in the world.”

Kory grinned, an ear-to-ear smile that made a fondness flood in his heart. “I like you a lot, Grayson.” She teased, and leaned in to press her lips against his. He felt his own cheeks getting warmer. For several short seconds, any concern and fatigue evaporated completely—he was locked in total bliss.

Eventually, like every kiss, they had to pull away, but nevertheless, the warm feeling never left him. Kory rested her forehead on his, giggling.

“Happy New Years Day, Dick.”

“Happy New Years, Kory.”


	2. School

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is for Lizzspeedy—you’ll see a character later that might resemble you.

“First day of school, kids! You two happy?”

“Yes!” Gar hopped up and down, excitedly tugging on the sleeve of Dick’s coat. “Yes, yes yes yes yes yes yes—”

“Gar, don’t pull, you’ll rip my seam.”

“Rachel, what about you?” Kory grinned at the little girl standing in her usual attire: black leggings, a black t-shirt that spelled out the words ‘Don’t Hug Me’ in silver, glittery letters, and a black cardigan that Kory had insisted that she wore over everything just in case it got a bit chilly. Her little boots were planted firmly on the ground.

“No.” She simply stated, shaking her head. “No, I don’t wanna go.”

“C’mon, Rachel, school will be fun!” Gar exclaimed, now gripping Dick’s big hand with his fingers.

Gar himself had taken not as much time to choose his clothes for the day. His so-called ‘lucky Star Wars shirt’ was over his small frame, a red and white flannel jacket, wearing a pair of baggy cargo trousers along with black and white Converses—Kory thought he looked absolutely adorable.

“Yes it will be.” Kory giggled as she put the red cap on his head after ruffling his hair, the one that she had brought along just in case the other moms looked at them funny. Only X’hal knew what was going on inside their heads.

It was safe to say that Gar was very much excited for his first day of school, despite the fact that he had never been to school his whole life. It was him whom Kory had worried about most, afraid that he’d have problems socializing—but he seemed fine.

On the other hand, Rachel, whom Kory knew had gone to kindergarten before, was too nervous for comfort. She didn’t know what the little girl had to go through back a few years ago, but it was obvious that it brought back bad memories. She didn’t ask.

“Kory, Kory,” Gar called out, bouncing up and down on his feet. “—how many kids are there? What are the teachers like? How big is school?”

“I don’t know, Gar.” Kory replied with a thoughtful expression. “Guess you’ll have to find out for yourself.”

“Sounds cooooool.” Gar dragged the ‘o’ for a few seconds before marching alongside Dick, a confident, wide grin stretched upon his face. Kory turned around to see that Rachel hadn’t moved from her spot, still standing right next to the front porch, her bottom lip sticking out in a pout. Kory sighed. 

“Rachel, c’mon.”

“No.”

“Rachel, we’re going to be late on the first day.”

She didn’t reply, her small hands balled into fists are her sides, right foot rubbing the sole of her boot against the concrete.

Kory put on the most comforting and mom-like smile she could muster at the moment without losing her patience. Of course, Rachel was driving her pretty mad right now, but who could blame her for being nervous? “Look,” Kory started, closing her eyes for a brief second for good measure. “... it’s different from kindergarten, okay? Jerks do exist, but so do nice kids. Like Gar.” She nodded towards the boy strolling up ahead, too far away to hear the whole conversation. “All you need to do is treat other classmates with respect. The teachers and your new friends will help you, and you’ll have so much fun. I promise.”

Rachel blinked and lifted her head a bit, eyes meeting Kory’s. “Pinky promise?” She carefully held out her pinky, eyes wide and pupils staring deep into her it made Kory’s own heart flutter.

“Pinky promise.” Kory strut over and bent down to her level, linking her own pinkie with her tiny one. She gave the little girl and encouraging smile. “You’ll enjoy it.”

Rachel nodded—of course, she didn’t seem to happy about having to go to school, but she showed more of a positive reaction than before—and took Kory’s hand, both of their shoes clicking on the pavement as they followed Dick and Gar’s tracks.

It didn’t take too long, just a few minutes. When Dick and Kory decided that it would be better for Gar and Rachel to go to school, they had done some research here and there—and found out there was just a public primary school few blocks away.

The building was like a white slab of brick—almost like a mental asylum with lack of windows. An American flag fluttered limply in the breeze on top of the pole, and a playground along with a small field was stretched out on the school yard. A red and blue banner, in definite contrast to the dullness of the whole place, spelled out ‘Welcome to Richwood Primary School’ in glittery golden letters.

“We’re here!” Gar, as if not seeming to notice how the place looked like a newly-built prison, stared up in awe at the banner. “Geez, it’s so big.”

“Too big.” Rachel retorted, and she squeezed Kory’s hand.

“Rachel, you’ll be okay.” Dick had crouched in front of Gar, smoothing out his shirt and ruffling his green hair after removing the cap for a short second. “Gar’ll be there, too.” Gar nodded enthusiastically beside him.

The bell rang, and after Dick gave Gar a gentle push towards the main entrance, Kory planting kisses on both of their foreheads and giving them a jolly wave, they entered the school building. 

The interior looked a lot brighter and more colorful. Every inch of the wall seemed to be covered in glitter, letters and artwork done by the students, doors to classrooms labeled with different names. Red, yellow, green and blue surrounded Rachel, completely overwhelming her. What was it with kids and colors?

“Dick and Kory could at least told us what class we had to go to.” Gar said, eyes scanning every single door that lay on their path. After about five minutes of searching, he managed to locate one door at the end of the hall with their names written on the top of the list of new students, and that was their final choice maker.

Gar reached out and knocked, rapping his knuckles on the door three times like Dick had taught him. Rachel squirmed uncomfortably beside her.

“Don’t worry, Rachel. It’ll be fine.” Gar gave her a quick smile, and she at least tried to return it but when the door swung open before she could, she found her attention faced back towards the person now standing at the doorway.

The teacher’s name was Ms. Betty—at least, that was what she wanted them to call her—and she was, in Rachel’s opinion, unnecessarily cheerful for no reason at all. Little mousey-faced Betty had welcomed them into the class with a toothy smile that stretched from ear to ear to a point where Gar became a bit worried about whether her face hurt or not. When they were seated at the back of the room and took our their own books, placing them on the desk, she had clapped happily and complimented them on how ‘insightful’ they were. Unnecessarily cheerful.

Ms. Betty had welcomed them, welcomed them all for coming and starting their first year at a primary school, then passed worksheets around to play icebreakers and pairing them into groups. Luckily, Rachel was paired with Gar and just a couple of others.

Gar was opening the small packet of crayons, humming quietly to himself. “My name?” He read off the paper, squinting at the big question mark at the end of the short and simple inquiry. He picked out a green crayon and began writing on the worksheet, his tongue sticking out of the corner of his lip in concentration. “Gaaaaar… fieeeeld, Logaaaaaaan—”

In curly letters, she wrote ‘Rachel Roth’ on the top of the worksheet, staring at the bunch of other questions listed underneath. Favorite food? Favorite color? Favorite animal? How could a person have so many favorites?

The two words above the small box on the bottom right side of the paper caught her eye—your family. And labeled underneath were the words mom, dad, and sibling. Her heart suddenly felt a bit heavy and she couldn't tell why. Rachel glanced to the side to see Gar’s worksheet.

“Favorite animal? Tiger.” He immediately wrote it down. “Favorite color?” Gar reached up and subconsciously tugged at his own hair. “Green.” He stated and his crayon danced over his paper.

“Gar.”

“Yeah?”

Rachel pointed towards the family-related question, pressing the tip of her finger against it. “I can’t write about my mom—I don’t even know her.”

“Well,” Gar shrugged. “... family doesn’t always have to be biological. A father or mother figure is also family.” He smiled. “That’s why I’m going to write Dick and Kory, and you.”

Rachel’s eyes widened. “Me?”

“I’m going to write you as a sister figure.” The smile on his face fell. “You’re not… upset about it or anything, right?”

“No, no, I’m not upset—” Rachel shook her head from side to side. “—in fact, I’m really glad.” She flashed him a shy smile of her own. “Thanks.”

“Hey.” The two turned their heads to see who had called out for them. It was the boy who had been made their group, brown hair that fell over his eyes and a purple Joker-themed hoodie. “What’s wrong with your hair?” He pointed towards the green hair sticking out from underneath his red cap, and then at Rachel’s wavy, short violet-colored hair. “Why’s the color like that?”

“It’s just natural.” Gar replied, subconsciously finding his hand tugging the cap tighter over his head. “And I like green, there’s nothing wrong with it.”

“You’re weird.” The boy commented, and Rachel immediately felt like kicking him in the shin. “You both are weirdos. Weirdo freaks.”

“A reject from society.” Another boy, wearing round glasses with neatly combed hair snarkily said, nose high up in the air, as if proud that he used big words. 

“We’re not rejects.” Gar snapped and dropped his crayon onto the tabletop, leaning in towards to glare at the two. “Just because our hair color is different from your doesn’t mean we’re weirdos.”

“Freak.”

A low animalistic growl sounded from deep inside Gar’s chest, almost like a rumble—Rachel realized this instantly, and she knew that the tiger was acting up again. If the boys aggravated him more, he’d change, and… she couldn't let that happen. “Gar.” She said softly and tugged at his sleeve. “They’re not worth our time.”

“Weirdos.”

“Can you two just be quiet?” A blonde girl, who had been sitting right from across Rachel, looked up from her worksheet (which was now covered in stickers and colored ink) and glowered at the two boys and scowled. “They’re normal people just like us, and they deserve to be treated equally.”

“Why is a girl talking to us?” The boy with glasses remarked.

“Yeah, girls are gross.”

“You’re gross. And you stink.” The girl stuck her tongue out at the two of them. “Now hurry up and finish your worksheet, or Ms. Betty said we won’t get our playtime.”

With mutters of complaint, the boys returned to filling out their ice breaker worksheets, and the girl turned to the both of them with a grin. “Hi, I’m Lizz.”

“Rachel.” She held out her hand to shake the girl’s, and Gar did the same.

“I’m Garfield, but you can call me Gar.”

“I don’t think you’re weirdos, by the way.” She shook her head and grabbed a pink crayon, dotting her paper with tiny hearts. “And your hair is cool.”

“Thank you, that’s really sweet.” Rachel grinned back at her as she reached for her purple crayon again. She looked at the bunch of questions, eyes immediately returning to the family question. Doesn’t have to be biological, huh? She quickly jotted down the names Dick, Kory, and next to sibling, scrolling Gar’s name as neatly as she could. 

“First day of school’s always a pretty big bummer.” Lizz commented and picked up a bottle of gold glitter glue. “I actually remember my first day of kindergarten. It was really, really bad.” She scrunched up her nose, adding a star to the corner of her worksheets.

“Kindergarten wasn’t really great for me either.” Rachel said softly, writing down the word ‘raven’ as her favorite animal. “Some kids are jerks.”

“This is my first time at a school—not as great as I thought it would be.” Gar said.

“Well, you’ll get used to it. We still have lunchtime and many different classes left, so you can try an adapt  
to school life the best you can.” Lizz said and returned to her worksheet.

Rachel continued to fill in a purple heart she had drawn beside the family box.

…

School wasn’t really as bad at Rachel thought, she had to admit. There had been some more rude people who looked at their hair weird—one of them had even decided to play a game of ball with Gar’s red cap. But on the contrary, they had also made new friends along the way. And throughout the entire process, Gar and Rachel had been right next to each other. And thanks to that, Rachel felt safer.

The day was finally over, and Rachel felt ecstatic the second she spotted Dick and Kory standing at the gate. She ran over and threw herself into Dick’s open arms. “Dick, I missed you!”

“Missed you too, Rachel.” Dick replied with a gentle squeeze and a quiet laugh before he scooped her up and lifted her off his feet. “How was school?”

“It was okay—I made some new friends, too. They all like Star Wars, so we all had lunch together. Rachel sat with us as well, and we met a really nice girl named Lizz, she was very friendly.” Gar said with a wide grin spread across his face. “I lost my cap, though. Sorry, Kory.”

“Be more careful next time, Gar—alright?” Kory gave Gar a reassuring grin and grabbed his small hand, and all four of them started heading back onto the sidewalk, out of the school. “So, Gar—mind telling me more?”

And that moment, Rachel realized that school was going to be just fine—because she had her family. And even if they weren’t biological, she loved them all no matter what, and they would always be there for her the same way.

Maybe school wouldn’t suck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Requests are available!

**Author's Note:**

> Leave requests, but they have to contain all Dick, Kory, Gar and Rachel!
> 
> Happy New Years, everybody! Hope y’all have a wonderful time!


End file.
